May as well keep Al...

[Diesel]

I know the big news buzzing is:

Al to Indy

Artest to Denver

Watson, 1st to Atlanta.

or

Al to Indy

Artest to Denver

Watson, Nene to Atlanta.

I don't think either of these deals are worth it.

First off, let's look at Watson. Undersized PG. He may have some PGing ability but really, it's not that much more than what we can get from Lue.

The 1st rounder from Denver has crap written all over it. It will be a late first in a draft that is weaker because of the loss of HSers.

Finally Nene. What's the hard-on for Nene' about. His best season was him playing 32.5 mpg, putting up 11.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 0.82 bpg. He's not better than Al. He's not better than Zaza. Plus, he's a FA this summer also. Why not re-sign Al and then go after Nene... If Denver wanted him, they would have signed his extension this past summer. So it's not like he will sit on the IL and have Denver get more hyped about Signing him. Karl has stated that he likes Francisco Elson better???

It's time for the cooler heads to prevail, we have really good chemistry with Al, JJ. Nobody else seems to have the money to go after Al except N.O. I seriously doubt that they go after Al though. I think if we remain patient, we can get Al back or probably work out a better SNT in the summer.

But us getting Watson is not enough.

Now, if Denver started talking Miller/1st... I would be interested.

[Wurider05]

That is the exact samething I said in a post on yesterday. Denver were already prepared to let him walk after this season or trade him. His stats are really no better than CHillz or SMoove. If he was so good why did Denver give K-Mart a max contract with his subpar stats. He thinks that he deserves 10+ million a season. HIs vertical was already just 2 inches now it is probably .5 inches. Can we say Adonal Foyle?? I said it once and I will say it again, "The Bums that some of these guys want wearing a Atlanta Hawk uniform is really ridiculous sometimes!!". If Earl Watson was so good why can't he crack the rotation on his on team and why did Memphis trade him??

[KB21]

I don't think BK will jump at that deal anyway. If BK had wanted Earl Watson, he would have signed him this offseason.

Earl is a good player. The thing he brings over Ty Lue at the point guard position is defense. Earl can defend.

However, BK had the choice this offseason of resigning Ty Lue or signing Earl Watson. He chose Ty Lue. So, I doubt Billy trades a player he really likes for a player he could have already had if he wanted him.

[exodus]

Diesel loves to dream. Al has stated how much he hates losing and how hard it has been playing here, yet somehow Diesel translates that into "Al loves his role here". And no matter how strongly Diesel believes he will stay (he would believe it even if Al came out and said "I hate Atlanta") the Hawks still run the risk of losing him for nothing if they don't trade him.

Then they will be stuck trying to get free agents to come here, and we know how that goes.

And while Al is certainly capable of putting up some big numbers on offense when he is on, his poor D effects every game.

While I agree Nene may be overrated, his strenth is man D.

His size and quickness allow him to keep people away from the rim. I watched him in the playoff series against the Wolves a couple of years ago. They left him 1 on 1 against Garnett all series and he gave Garnett fits. Garnett couldn't score consistently and the Wolves barely won the series even though they were a heavy favorite. That was the year they made to the Western Conference Finals.

The problem I have with Nene is that he isn't a shotblocker. If they get him Smith will be their only shotblocker unless they draft one.

But getting strong defenders at positions of need by trading an expirer would be the best the Hawks could do.

And I haven't seen any scenarios where the Hawks could get a pg better than Watson without giving up one of their young players. Rondo is way overhyped here. In the games I have seen guys are able to drive past him easily because he is weak. We don't need another guy like that. Plus I am still waiting to see him create opportunities off the dribble or finish strongly at the rim. Maybe I have just caught him in off nights but he hasn't shown me anything.

When you watch the game today watch how Watson closes out and challenges perimeter shooters.

If the Hawks are able to pull this deal off then that would mean, after the draft, that BK's rebuilding plan is basically over.

[exodus]

http://www.hawksquawk.net/forums/showflat....=&fpart=#110439

[jezmund]

I've actually been going by Denver boards to get their opinion on Watson and the consensus is that they don't really care for him. He has just been shooting well as of late but they say he can't run a team for squat. Some actually want him to play 2-guard which I don't see in him. He did sign a $30 or so million contract which is a little much for him I think. He just isn't a 5-6 million type. Nene, though, I like. We just need size/defense/rebounding here.

[exodus]

Realistically they never should have signed Watson. They have developed great chemistry with Miller and Boykins. The only reason they signed him was because they thought they had the Pierce deal in place for Miller.

Remember that he is new there and hasn't developed chemistry with the players yet, kind of like JJ's first month here.

Right now I would say he is probably shooting more than he normally would because that is the big question mark about his game. he wants to be traded and if he starts putting up numbers to build up his value that would only help his cause. He knows he is not wanted there.

When he was in Memphis they used Watson to finish the games instead of Jason Williams.

In terms of being overpaid you could make that argument about most players. And remember that BK thought JJ could play the point so there wasn't much reason for him to pursue another point guard.

[ggp]

There is no way I would trade for Watson. One of two things happened this offseason with Watson and the Hawks.

1. BK was not interested. If this is so, then why would he interested now? Watson has not lit up the league at Denver.

2. BK wanted Watson, but he did not like the look of the Hawks. If that is the case, why would he feel differently now? As a PG, you have to be the floor leader and to do that, you have to believe in your team mates.

Either way you cut it, Watson does not belong on the Hawks. Trading a successful starter for a mediocre PG and a mediocre big guy is nonsense. BTW, Nene has proved nothing in this league...winning a rookie award is fluff. His injury history coupled with his mediocre play while healthy do not make for a good trade.

[Wurider05]

Well said dude. Alot of guys want trades to occur just for the sake of having one. If we can't sign AL then we need to trade him but why trade him for an injured player who will probably want more money than AL. I say we do the trade for Miller. I don't care for him either but he is better than Watson. For some reason I smell a big 4 team trade coming upon us.

[Traceman]

It is easy to say keep him and resign him but how much are you willing to invest in him? You have to remember that it is not just a matter of matching Al's best offer, he is UNRESTRICTED.

Now if Al tells BK that he will resign with us if we equal the best offer he gets on the FA market, I'd take that chance and try to resign him. But what happens when he gets pissed because BK won't offer him what he perceives his market value to be? Will he take a slightly lesser deal to play elsewhere for a proven winner? Will he reluctantly come back here and hold a grudge and not play up to his potential?

I really think it boils down to how much Al wants to resign. If he will take a deal starting around $8M (maybe $9M), I'd resign him. If he wants a lot more than that, I'd have to go ahead and deal him.

[exodus]

Quote:

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1. BK was not interested. If this is so, then why would he interested now? Watson has not lit up the league at Denver.

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I guess you missed the drama last summer where BK brought JJ in TO PLAY POINT GUARD. Assuming he actually believed JJ could play the point, why would he sign another pg?

He signed Lue to be JJ's backup. There is no need to sign two backups.

I guess you also missed the reason why Denver signed Watson in the first place. They thought they had a deal in place with Boston to trade them Miller/Nene for Paul Pierce. They signed Watson because they would have only had Boykins at the point if the deal went through.

Boston pulled out at the last minute, leaving Denver and Watson hanging. Considering how well Denver played with the Miller/Boykins combo at the point last season, there really isn't any reason for them to give Watson solid minutes. The only reason he is playing now is because Boykins is hurt.

[Packfill]

Quote:

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It is easy to say keep him and resign him but how much are you willing to invest in him? You have to remember that it is not just a matter of matching Al's best offer, he is UNRESTRICTED.

Now if Al tells BK that he will resign with us if we equal the best offer he gets on the FA market, I'd take that chance and try to resign him. But what happens when he gets pissed because BK won't offer him what he perceives his market value to be? Will he take a slightly lesser deal to play elsewhere for a proven winner? Will he reluctantly come back here and hold a grudge and not play up to his potential?

I really think it boils down to how much Al wants to resign. If he will take a deal starting around $8M (maybe $9M), I'd resign him. If he wants a lot more than that, I'd have to go ahead and deal him.

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Keeping Al even at $10 million is cheaper then Watson and Nene - unless I am mistaken Watson is making $5+ million for the next several years and Nene needs to be signed, he will command at least $5+ million.

[exodus]

If they do keep Al then they will still have gaping holes at the center and point, the two toughest positions to fill.

[Diesel]

The funny part is that you refused to read anything that i stated in that post???

Quote:

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Shouldn't be but will be.

He wants to stay. We want to keep him... but we've made dumb moves that have effected our ability to win.

Al won't come back without us winning.

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Did you miss that part? I wrote this while we were 2-16. Since then, we have played a much better brand of basketball. Winning basketball. I can actually see us getting a few streaks going. And if I can see it, Al should be able to see it too.

It's unfortunate that you want to trade one of our best players for a package of bubble gum and an old fart... BUT if we can avoid doing that, i think we should. IN fact, I say we take Al all the way to the offseason. To get to a winning team, Al would still have to work a SNT so, let's do that with plans to resign.

It's just makes more sense than a KNEE JERK Babcock like move.

[Diesel]

I would happily match Al's best deal which should be between 8-9 million. At the end of the day, Al is still a Sf. When there were many people talking about taking Marvin because he was this or that, I said (correctly) that all Marvin is is a Sf. Sfs are the easiest commodity to find so most team won't spend 8-9 million dollars on Al when there is a Gerald Fitch or a James Jones waiting to be found at 2-3 million. Look what happened to Walker and Reef...

[Diesel]

We have Zaza at C and we have a make shift bunch at PG. Yes they are the hardest positions to fill but Nene' and Watson are definitely not filling players. I mean, Nene' is not better than Zaza. Watson is not much better than Lue. I would rather just resign Al, catch a defensive big in the draft or via FAcy...

The beauty of what we have right now is that we have Depth.

[exodus]

I was focusing more on this part:

Quote:

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"(Winning is) very important to me," Harrington told the Post. "I promise it is. I took winning for granted. It would take a lot for (Atlanta) to sign me back. Obviously, money is No. 1. No. 2,

we just have to find a way to get some other players, some good veteran guys in here because I've got to start winning again.

"It's the worst, losing all the time. Can't sleep. Can't eat. Your body feels terrible all the time. Winning is very important to me, which is the reason I'm going to go to free agency and just weigh my options."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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That is pretty clear to me. Harrington wants to see veterans brought in. The Hawks are committed to a youth movement. The only way to bring in veterans is through free agency and Atlanta isn't exactly a preferred destination.

[Diesel]

Seems like since I've posted that we've won 4 out of 5 with wins over Denver, San Antonio, NY, and Cleveland. Some of the best teams in the league.

Exodus. BUY a clue.

You're really clueless if you expect to come here and root against the Hawks winning and HOPE that we trade our best players away for guys who are not difference makers?

BUY a clue.

[exodus]

Denver had 4 of their best players out today and still almost beat the Hawks. The only reason they beat the Knicks is because Al and JJ had monster games at the same time.

Harrington is gone. He as much as said so himself. I don't see how he could make his intentions more clear unless he said "I am definitely leaving Atlanta".

[Packfill]

Quote:

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If they do keep Al then they will still have gaping holes at the center and point, the two toughest positions to fill.

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Well, they might still have the same problem after the trade. Both Nene and Watson are career back-ups. I definitely think Watson is an upgrade, and Nene may be if he ever gets his head in the game. He is an injury risk as well.

Looking at how things are shaking down though, the forward combo of Smith and Harrington seems quite strong. I say stay the course this season and evaluate in the off-season.